War Is Boring » Axe in Afghanistan ’09

The Washington Times: U.S. Tests “Ink-Spot” Strategy in Afghanistan

David Axe — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:55:52 +0000

It was a war we thought we’d won. But after eight years of escalating violence, the Afghanistan conflict has morphed into something perhaps unwinnable. U.S.-led forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to deny sanctuary to Al Qaeda, a goal we’ve largely achieved. But in years of occupation, Washington has apparently conflated counter-terrorism with nation-building. Now the U.S., NATO and their allies are struggling to destroy a deeply-rooted insurgency in country with a corrupt, ineffective government, poor infrastructure and few prospects for everyday people, but to fight. David Axe visits U.S. forces to see for himself.

by DAVID AXE

U.S. forces are testing a modified strategy dubbed “ink spots” in which coalition forces pick certain districts to flood with reconstruction projects and permanently defend from Taliban insurgents.

In Logar province, 50 miles south of Kabul, a newly arrived contingent of U.S. and Czech troops is putting the ink-spot idea into practice.

“I don’t have enough troops to cover every square inch,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Gukeisen, commander of roughly 1,000 soldiers from 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, deployed to Logar early this year alongside a Czech army reconstruction team.

The concept, in part, reflects anticipation that the Obama administration is leaning toward deployments of fewer than the 40,000 extra troops reportedly sought by top commander Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal.

Read the rest in The Washington Times.

(Photo: David Axe)

Axeghanistan ’09: Afghan Air Corps Video

David Axe — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:51:21 +0000

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/I0UhDym1YB4" width="490" height="400" wmode="transparent" /]

by DAVID AXE

The U.S. Air Force mentors Afghan aviators from the airfield at Kandahar.

(Video: David Axe)

Axeghanistan ’09: Drone Ops Video

David Axe — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:44:55 +0000

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by DAVID AXE

The U.S. Air Force’s 62nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron at Kandahar maintains a force of “scores” of MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper armed drones, covering all of southern Afghanistan, 24 hours a day. The squadron launches and lands the ‘bots, and hands off control to operators in Nevada for most of a mission’s duration.

(Video: David Axe)

Russia Today TV: Nobody Expected a Free Election

David Axe — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:31:01 +0000

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by DAVID AXE

On Halloween I spoke to Russia Today TV about the planned Afghan runoff election, which ended up being canceled when incumbent Hamid Karzai’s sole opponent dropped out. We also touched on the increasingly effective — and controversial — U.S. drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

(Video: Russia Today TV)

Axeghanistan ’09: World’s Luckiest Vets

David Axe — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:00:34 +0000

by DAVID AXE

In Afghanistan’s Baraki Barak district on October 25, Afghan veterinarians braved Taliban intimidation to partner up with the U.S. Army in providing free vet care to the district’s farmers and herders. But it was the military vets at Bagram air base, outside Kabul, that had the closest brushes with death.

Check out the photo. The dent in the side of the pickup truck, belonging to Bagram’s vet team, is from a rocket that some insurgent fired over the Bagram air base wall. The round struck the truck, shattering some windows, ruining the door and injuring the occupants. But it didn’t explode.

The incident reminded me of the BBC’s “Basra truck.” The British broadcaster had outfitted a vehicle with satellite transmission gear to support rotating correspondents. One night as the truck was parked at the main British base at the Basra airport, an insurgent rocket or mortar exploded next to it, peppering the vehicle with shrapnel holes. Luckily, no one was inside at the time.

The moral? Rockets and mortars are inaccurate and a mere nuisance, until they’re not.

(Photo: David Axe)

Axeghanistan ’09: Visa Rush

David Axe — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:42:37 +0000

by DAVID AXE

My Afghan visa expired on November 6. My flight home was on November 9. Before leaving the U.S., I called the Afghan embassy in D.C. and asked how I could get the visa extended a few days. Go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul, they said. “Will it be difficult?” I asked. “No problem, my friend, no problem,” they said.

The words raised hairs on my neck. In the Third World, whenever someone says, “No problem, my friend, no problem,” what they mean is, “Yes, this will be a huge problem.”

I asked around. Some folks said the penalty for flying home on an expired visa was just a few dollars, paid in cash at the airport. Others said I might be detained, fined heavily, and held in the country for weeks. I should try to do things the legal way.

I flew into Kabul from Logar province on Oct. 28, aiming to tackle the visa problem. As I stepped off the helicopter, there were puffs of smoke on the horizon. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was witnessing the Taliban’s bloody assault on a compound housing U.N. election workers. A dozen people were killed. My driver negotiated our way through layers of security to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As I opened my door, a man standing on the street slammed it shut in my face. Everyone had left, he said. Come back tomorrow.

Uh-oh, I thought. The next was a Thursday, the equivalent of a Friday in the U.S. No one works very hard on Thursdays.

I crashed in a cheap hotel. That night, I had nightmares about passports, visas, airports and Afghan cops.

The next morning, I arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs bright and early. Can I get my visa extended? I asked. “No problem,” the man in the purple suit said. But first, I had to get a letter from the ministry’s media section approving the extension. So I walked down shabby corridors to the media section, where a man with a fat face and lazy eyes said, “No problem,” but first I had to get a stamp from the U.S. embassy notarizing my request.

I walked hundreds of yards through outdoor concrete corridors and several security checkpoints to arrive at the U.S. embassy consular section, where a very kind-faced woman told me, essentially, to go screw myself. She did, however, provide a phone number to the embassy’s media handlers, and said they might be able to help. I called, repeatedly. No one answered.

I talked my way past some Macedonian security guards at ISAF headquarters and got ahold of the American public affairs people. I needed some kind of endorsement, or I’m never leaving Afghanistan, I said. Air Force Captain John Stock helpfully printed out reams of documentation bearing the ISAF stamp. I confidently shoved this in the face of the Foreign Affairs media man. He shook his head. “Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no contact with ISAF,” he said. I needed U.S. embassy endorsement. When I explained the embassy did not endorse journalists, he just shrugged.

I returned to the man in the purple suit and told him everything. I looked deep in his eyes, tried to connect, one human being to another. Please help, my gaze said. With a sigh, the man in the purple suit filled out a form that, he said, would get me my visa extension, but only if I took it down to the Ministry of the Interior.

“No problem,” I said. My driver raced through traffic, only to get stopped at a police checkpoint. We were close, so I hopped out and ran. I arrived at the Ministry of the Interior at 1:00, precisely closing time. The cop at the gate sliced his hand across his throat, in the universal gesture meaning, “dead end.” The next day was Friday. After that, I had to be in Kandahar. Time was up.

Two days. Five agencies. No visa extension. What would happen when I tried to leave the country? I had no idea. But suddenly I wished I were back in Logar, buttoned up in an Army vehicle as the Taliban fired machine guns and rockets at me. That, at least, involved zero paperwork.

(Art: Internet)

World Politics Review: U.S. Army Reaches Out to Wary Afghan Farmers

David Axe — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:21:23 +0000

by DAVID AXE

When the gate opened at the U.S. Army outpost in Baraki Barak district on the morning of Oct. 25, it seemed the Army’s long-planned strategy to win over local farmers might fail. For weeks, Able Troop, an element of 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry, had prepared to provide free veterinary services to potentially hundreds of local farmers — coordinating with the local government, hiring vets, stockpiling medicine, and spreading word of the event. The idea was to win the farmers’ allegiance, and create what 3rd Squadron commander Lt. Col. Thomas Gukeisen called “dislocated envy.” That would, in theory, bring other Baraki Barak residents into the coalition fold, in search of basic services for their own farms.

But the plan hinged on farmers accepting the gift that the military and the district government were offering. As Baraki Barak Sub-Governor Mohamed Yasin Ludeen pointed out, “You can cook rice for a man, but you can’t make him eat.” Indeed, on the morning of the veterinary event, no farmers or animals waited at the gate. Able Troop commander Capt. Paul Shepard had said he expected scores of “customers” at opening time.

There were some worried expressions among the Able Troop command staff that morning. At stake was a three-month-old campaign to win back Baraki Barak and the rest of Logar province, an agricultural region just south of Kabul, from extremist elements, including Taliban fighters, cells from the Al Haqqani network and Mafia-style organized crime.

Read the rest at World Politics Review.

(Photo: David Axe)

Axeghanistan ’09 Pics

David Axe — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:45:14 +0000

by DAVID AXE

Check ‘em out.

(Photos: David Axe)

Axeghanistan ’09: Vet Event Video

David Axe — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:12:29 +0000

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by DAVID AXE

(Video: David Axe)

Axeghanistan ’09: Show of Strength

David Axe — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:00:27 +0000

by DAVID AXE

Intel indicated that the Taliban might attack Able Troop’s outpost in Baraki Barak district on the night of October 23. That afternoon, soldiers at the outpost loudly burned off some extra rounds at the outpost’s firing range. The gunshots echoed across the town.

As evening fell, two Apache gunship helicopters from a nearby base made a, shall we say, conspicuous pass over Baraki Barak. They slid over to an adjacent mountain slope and fired their 30-millimeter cannons and Hellfire missiles, just as a reminder, before leaving.

The 120-millimeter mortar team at Baraki Barak was next. They lobbed white phosphorous shells into the same slope, then, as it grew dark, popped illumination shells directly overhead. The red flares made a strange whoop-whoop sound and slowly descended under white parachutes. Within minutes of them hitting the ground, local Afghans snatched up the parachutes.

The attack never came. Was the intel bad? Or did the Taliban witness the assembled firepower and change their minds? Who knows.

(Photo: David Axe)

Axeghanistan ’09: Battle Wagons

David Axe — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:52:54 +0000

by DAVID AXE

Improvised bombs took the U.S. military by surprise in the early years of the Iraq war. It wasn’t until 2007 that the Pentagon pledged an initial $15 billion for vehicles designed to resist the bombs. These so-called Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected trucks, or MRAPs, are now a common sight in U.S. wars. On October 21, an MRAP built by International Truck protected its crew from a 200-pound buried bomb in Logar province, Afghanistan. The blast tore the front axle off the vehicle, but the crew was unhurt.

For all their effectiveness, there are some Army folks — top brass, especially — who don’t really like MRAPs. Not from a force-planning perspective, at least. They’re tailor-made for Iraq, and to a lesser extent the more road-poor Afghanistan, so what do you do with them after those wars have ended? By now, the military has invested more than $20 billion in the vehicles, if you count the latest All-Terrain Vehicle version. That investment alone is a strong argument for keeping MRAPs around, even after current wars wind down.

To be sure, the soldiers on the ground are finding creative ways to use their bomb-deflecting battle wagons. In Logar, MRAPs sport a bewildering mixture of modifications. Besides the ubiquitous .50-caliber machine gun turrets and radio jammers, for thwarting signal-detonated bombs, I’ve seen mods including front-mounted mine rollers, infrared sensor turrets on the cab and on the turret and even TOW anti-tank missile mounts in place of the machine gun. To turn a regular MRAP into a TOW MRAP, units tear out two of the infantry seats in the back and install missile racks in their place.

Then there’s the MRAPs fitted with the remote-controlled CROWS turret, which makes for a useful surveillance device in its own right. Those, too, have fewer infantry seats, to make room for the turret operator and his console. And you can turn a standard MRAP into a mobile mortar unit by stuffing a 60-millimeter mortar and its one- or two-man team in the troop compartment.

Three years into the MRAP age, the lumbering trucks are beginning to rival the stalwart Humvee in terms of versatility. Whatever the generals decide regarding the MRAP’s fate, soldiers will adapt the trucks to suit their needs, for as long as they’re told to keep them.

(Photo: David Axe)

Axeghanistan ’09: Ambush Video

David Axe — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:55:44 +0000

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by DAVID AXE

(Video: David Axe)